Preview: Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open
Last year’s event
The PGA Tour’s next stop and second to last of the 2010 season is the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open, set to be played at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, Nevada. Last year’s winner was
the 26-year-old Scotsman Martin Laird, who held an 11-foot birdie putt on the third play-off hole to beat George McNeill on the par-71, 7,223 yard course.
The defending champion
This year, Laird is again in the field and looking to defend his title. He will be competing against 131 other PGA Tour players, many of whom are desperate for a strong finish to the season in order to
retain their playing privileges.
Laird has made consistent progress ever since joining the PGA Tour in 2008. He has climbed the world golf ranking, from 266 in the world to 58 and finished the Fedex Cup in 11th. This year, though, he
remains winless with one second at The Barclays and three top-ten finishes in 25 events played.
If Laird is going to give himself a string chance at winning he will have to be hot with the putter and keep it in the fairway. Laird’s performance with the driver as well as the putter has been streaky
at best this season and throughout his professional career. His driving accuracy percentage ranks him 143rd on Tour and his putting average is 127th. To add to these noticeable weaknesses in Laird’s game is the fact that this tournament marks his first PGA
event since the playoffs where he struggled in the last three events finishing dead last in the tour championship.
Prospective Winners
Rocco Mediate, the champion of the Frys.com Open, will also be playing this week and hopes to build on his success. Mediate, who now ranks 45th on Tour in career earnings, has only until recently begun
playing well. His only top-10 finish this season in 24 events played this season is his 17 October Frys.com win. Despite his overall poor performance this season Mediate remains optimistic about the last two events of the season.
Mediate, like Laird, has been plagued by poor putting and is ranked 173rd in that facet of the gtame although this stat does not reflect his most recent play with the flat stick. When asked about the reason
for his most recent performance Mediate replied that his caddy was helping him improve.
“You know, the last three weeks I kept telling everybody, and Matthew kept beating it into my head, everything is coming around, you're putting better. And I was.”
Rickie Fowler who has not won on Tour but has finished second twice and has six top-ten finishes this season will also be a player to watch for. Fowler is coming off a strong performance at last weeks
Tour stop, finishing fourth. His season has been characterized by a number of close calls but Fowler seems to be taking these disappointments in stride saying, “every time I get in contention I keep feeling a little more comfortable than the last time. If
we keep putting ourselves in the same spot, hopefully it'll payoff in the long run.”
This year’s tournament has a purse of $4.3m and a winner’s share of $756,000.
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